12/01/2026
Training Matters – Investing in Our Team, Investing in Our Community
We wanted to share a quick update on training and development at Gairloch Pharmacy, as it’s something we genuinely believe benefits our whole community.
Our Team
Ellie, Elsie and Sarah are now well into their respective courses and are all progressing extremely well. It’s been great to see their confidence and skills continue to grow as they put their learning into practice each day.
Sarah, in particular, is charging ahead with her Pharmacy Technician studies and, perhaps to no one’s surprise, is already well ahead of schedule. Her organisation, motivation and commitment have been outstanding, and we’re all very impressed with how she’s progressing.
And as for me…
In a few weeks’ time, I will be starting the Independent Prescribing course. Once completed, this qualification will allow me to assess patients, make clinical decisions, and prescribe appropriate medicines independently within an agreed scope of practice, in line with local needs and NHS Scotland priorities.
This will provide an additional support service to the General Practice team and will enable us to offer improved community-based care for example, at times when the GP surgery is closed later in the day or at weekends. For our community, this means the potential for quicker access to some treatments and even more care being delivered locally, particularly for common clinical conditions.
What This Means Practically
As part of the course, I am required to complete at least 90 hours of patient-facing learning alongside a qualified prescriber. We are very grateful that Aultbea/Gairloch Medical Practice Centre has kindly agreed to support me with this.
To make this work, I will be temporarily out of the pharmacy from 10:00am–12:00 noon every Monday and Thursday, starting Monday 19th January. During these times, we won’t be able to hand out prescriptions or sell/provide certain medicines over the counter.
We will post a short update on the morning of each Monday and Thursday to confirm my availability that day.
We’ve planned this arrangement carefully to minimise disruption and will monitor things closely. If we identify any significant issues, we’ll adapt the plan accordingly.
We hope that any minor inconvenience in the short term will be more than outweighed by the long-term benefits, allowing us to provide an even broader range of clinical support for our community once the independent prescribing qualification is complete.
As always, thank you for your understanding and continued support.
Yours learningfully,
Ian
